Swimming With Sharks… I Mean Algae. The Toxic Algae Ironman!Leave a comment

I just returned from Louisville, KY where I just completed my first Ironman! This was an unusual Ironman in that the swim was almost cancelled due to a toxic algae bloom in the Ohio River. Pretty crazy. For the last month of training, I had no idea if the thing was even going to go off. I continued my training and tried to stay mentally focused which was not easy. I flew to Louisville and still did not know if the swim would happen! Then… 24 hours before the race, they lifted the swim ban and the race was on. YES! 6 months of hard training would not be lost as well as thousands and thousands of dollars. Doing an Ironman is not a cheap endeavor either. The race went well although there were some rocky moments… I swam over some iron bars in the river and witnessed a violent high-speed bicycle crash. The crash shook me up a bit but I rallied and enjoyed the rest of the race. The last 3 miles of the run were hard but the finish was amazing. The finish line is in downtown Louisville where there are thousands of people cheering and encouraging all the participants. I did gulp some river water but did not get sick. No toxic river water syndrome!! It was a fantastic experience for myself and my parents. Thank you Louisville for hosting an amazing event!